Doctors Advise Against Swine Flu Parties

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Doctors Advise Against Swine Flu Parties

Parents toying with the idea of holding swine flu parties are being warned against it by health experts. Swine flu parties have recently become a hot topic of discussion at internet forums. The idea is that if the child is exposed to the virus by another person when it is at a milder form, he will develop immunity against it. It is similar to a previously prevalent idea that exposure to chicken pox and measles virus helped in building immunity to it.

Health officials are specifically advising people against it. This is because the swine flu virus, H1N1, can cause serious illness and even fatalities in some cases. Richard Besser, the head of the U.S. Center for Disease Control also issued a warning against deliberate exposure of people to this dreaded virus. The idea that it is better to get an attack of the virus now is also doing the rounds.

Health experts say that flu pandemics often come through in the form of waves, and a more virulent form may be just around the corner. This happened with a Spanish outbreak in 1918.

Researchers have proved that the Spanish flu killed off lesser people in its second wave in areas where it caused more fatalities in the first wave. There have been suggestions that the first wave of the flu increased the immunity of the people. However, the same may not be true of the H1N1 virus. Very little is known about it. Experts say that since we have little information, there may be no way of knowing what will happen if it spreads, especially among those who are most vulnerable to it. There is no way of establishing whether an increased exposure to the virus, at any stage whatsoever, will get the person more immunity. For this reason, swine flu parties, which encourage people to go for a bit of exposure, in order to get more immunity, is a bad idea- at least for the time being.

It is true that the symptoms of swine flu are not life threatening in a majority of cases. However, for people who are vulnerable and more prone to infections, this can be deadly. This is true especially of aged people. It is also true of people who have reduced immunities due to a particular reason.

The latest figures advanced by the world health organization are a matter of concern. There have been 311 deaths from the H1N1 virus all around the world. The virus was initially identified in Mexico and has so far spread to 113 countries, infecting around 70000 people.